2017 Texas Rangers

2017 Texas Rangers / Franchise: Texas Rangers / BR Team Page

Record: 78-84, Finished 3rd (t) in AL Western Division (2017 AL)

Managed by Jeff Banister

Coaches: Tony Beasley, Doug Brocail, Steve Buechele, Brad Holman, Anthony Iapoce, Justin Mashore and Hector Ortiz

Ballpark: Globe Life Park in Arlington

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2017 Texas Rangers were very confident heading into the season, coming off two consecutive division titles and counting on the return of ace pitcher Yu Darvish. However, they got off to a rough start, going 11-14 in April. They then lost their first three games in May to fall a full 8 games out of first place int the AL West. But just as some observers were starting to write them off, the Rangers began to turn things around, starting a ten-game winning streak on May 9th. The eighth win on May 17th, 9-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies improved their record to 21-20, the first time they had been over .500 all year after being swept in three games by the Cleveland Indians in their opening series. For all the winning, they barely gained any ground on the first-place Houston Astros, who won 8 of 10 while they were winning 10 straight, leaving them still 6 1/2 games behind their cross-state rivals on May 19th.

The Rangers went through three closers in the first few weeks of the season. Sam Dyson started the year holding the job, but lost it after being charged with 3 losses and as many blown saves in his first 6 outings before going on the disabled list with an ERA of 27.00 on April 17th. Alex Claudio was given first shot at replacing Dyson, but opportunities to save games were few and far between for the next couple of weeks, and when the Rangers began winning, it was Matt Bush who was holding the job. He converted 5 of his first 6 opportunities while also notching a pair of wins to make what looked like a permanent claim on the role. However, that did not last either, as Bush suffered his 5th blown save on June 30th, at which point manager Jeff Banister announced he would with a closer by committee instead of designating a single pitcher to handle the 9th-inning work.

By the trading deadline, the Rangers seemed to be hopelessly out of the postseason race, and decided to trade a couple of big names, SP Darvish - their lone All-Star - who went the Los Angeles Dodgers, and C Jonathan Lucroy who was shipped off to the Colorado Rockies. But, unexpectedly, the Rangers began to play their best baseball in August, reeling off 11 wins in 15 games starting on August 9th to pull within one game of a wild card slot. They still did not have a designated closer and only one regular was hitting above .280 - 3B Adrian Beltre, who had only played his first game of the season on May 29th because of a calf injury and had joined the 3,000 hit club on July 30th at the age of 38.

Awards and Honors

• All-Star: Yu Darvish

Further Reading

2017 MLB season by team